Islamic Army in Iraq - Roots and Ideology

Roots and Ideology

The precise details about the emergence of the IAI are unclear, although it is generally assumed that the group was established in the summer of 2003 to fight coalition forces.

When the IAI first formed it used kidnapping as a means of pursuing its goals. The group also threatened to target the January 2005 elections, although it didn't carry out any such attack. Unlike most resistance movement organizations today the IAI does not have Salafist tendencies, its primary focus and goal being the expulsion of foreign troops from Iraq. A November 2004 Washington Post interview with the group's leader, Ishmael Jubouri, stated that the IAI was predominantly composed of Iraqis (Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, and Arabs) trying to force foreign troops out of Iraq. The Terrorism Monitor put out by The Jamestown Foundation confirms some of what Jubouri was claiming. In a March 2005 article it states the group is composed primarily of Sunnis with a much smaller, but still present, Shiite congregation and, in general, is " inclusive Islamic organization with Iraqi nationalist tendencies."

In a Nov. 2006 al-Jazeera interview, spokesman Ibrahim al-Shamary expanded on who the IAI considers foreign troops, "There are two occupations in Iraq. Iran on one side through the militias which they control and through direct involvement with the national guard and the intelligence services, that causes the killing and destruction of the Sunnis... And then there is the American occupation which destroys the Iraqi people."

The group has released several joint statements with other groups such as Islamic Resistance Movement and the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance, which are known to be of an ikhwan background. In one of these joint statements, six groups (including the IAI) called for Iraqis to participate in the referendum on the October 2005 constitution by voting against it. (This was in conspicuous contrast to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which said that simply participating in voting is a compromise of the fundamentals of Islam, even if one were to vote against it.)

When rumours spread in Iraq of the alleged demolition of the al-Aqsa Mosque, in April 2005 the IAI announced the formation of the "al-Aqsa Support Division." This group was to support the Palestinians in their armed struggle against Israel. The current status of the al-Aqsa Support Division is unknown, leading people to believe that the statement was merely rhetoric.